Geography: Newport is located at 41°29′17″N 71°18′45″W. It is the largest city on Aquidneck Island in Narragansett Bay and is bounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the north by Massachusetts, on the south by the Rhode Island Sound, and on the west by mainland Rhode Island. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 11.4 square miles (29.5 km2), of which 7.7 square miles (19.9 km2) is land and 3.7 square miles (9.6 km2), or 32.64%, is water. The elevation is from 6 to 96 feet above sea level. The bay moderates the climate, making this area of the state somewhat warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. The weather is of the kind described by meteorologists as humid continental. The average temperatures are 30.4° F in January, 71.0° F in July and 50.78° F annually. The Newport Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in New England, connects Newport to neighboring Conanicut Island across the East Passage of the Narragansett. Map: History: The evidence indicates that people have been living in the greater Newport area for somewhere between 10,000 and 12,000 years. A defining moment for Newport was the advent of religious dissidents who had been expelled from Massachusetts and many of whom were following Anne Hutchinson, who in 1638 founded Pocasset (later Portsmouth) on the northern end of Aquidneck Island with a small group led by William Coddington and John Clarke. In 1639 Coddington and Clarke moved south and established Newport. In 1663 Newport and three other towns were chartered by England's King Charles II as the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantation. By the 1690s, Newport was one of the principal ports in North America. By the 1760s Newport was also notorious for being the major slave-trading port in the British Empire. During the 1700s Newport rivaled Boston, New York, and Philadelphia as a major trade and cultural center. It also developed as a resort colony, attracting vacationers from the Carolinas and Caribbean seeking to escape the heat and humidity of summers there. With the aid of the French, Newport was regained by the United States; French troops remained in the area until 1783 to ensure that it stayed in U.S. control. This time of instability left the city out of the industrial leaps that had occurred in other parts of the country, and Newport began to rely increasingly on its image as a summer resort. Writers, architects, scientists, and artists converged on the scenic area. In 1774, Newport outlawed slavery, shattering the Triangular Trade. As part of the Union during the Civil War, Newport was designated the site of the U.S. Navy, which created an important naval presence that continues to this day. Newport's economy was given another boost by World War I as its shipyards built combat and cargo ships, but the city suffered heavily when the stock market crashed in 1929. The decline continued through the 1970s as the Newport Naval base was closed and the city lost 15 percent of its population. However, modern Newport is still a center of naval activities, housing the Naval War College and other training schools. References: Newport: Geography and Climate. (n.d.). Retrieved July 9, 2014, from http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-Northeast/Newport-Geography-and-Climate.html Brief History of Newport. (n.d.). Retrieved July 9, 2014, from http://www.newporthistory.org/about/brief-history-of-newport/ Newport: History - Earliest Newport, Pirates, Slaves, and Civil Unrest. (n.d.). Retrieved July 9, 2014, from http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-Northeast/Newport-History.html Newport, Rhode Island - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved July 9, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newport,_Rhode_Island
The bay moderates the climate, making this area of the state somewhat warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. The weather is of the kind described by meteorologists as humid continental. The average temperatures are 30.4° F in January, 71.0° F in July and 50.78° F annually.
The Newport Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in New England, connects Newport to neighboring Conanicut Island across the East Passage of the Narragansett.
Map:
History: The evidence indicates that people have been living in the greater Newport area for somewhere between 10,000 and 12,000 years. A defining moment for Newport was the advent of religious dissidents who had been expelled from Massachusetts and many of whom were following Anne Hutchinson, who in 1638 founded Pocasset (later Portsmouth) on the northern end of Aquidneck Island with a small group led by William Coddington and John Clarke. In 1639 Coddington and Clarke moved south and established Newport. In 1663 Newport and three other towns were chartered by England's King Charles II as the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantation.
By the 1690s, Newport was one of the principal ports in North America. By the 1760s Newport was also notorious for being the major slave-trading port in the British Empire. During the 1700s Newport rivaled Boston, New York, and Philadelphia as a major trade and cultural center. It also developed as a resort colony, attracting vacationers from the Carolinas and Caribbean seeking to escape the heat and humidity of summers there.
With the aid of the French, Newport was regained by the United States; French troops remained in the area until 1783 to ensure that it stayed in U.S. control. This time of instability left the city out of the industrial leaps that had occurred in other parts of the country, and Newport began to rely increasingly on its image as a summer resort. Writers, architects, scientists, and artists converged on the scenic area.
In 1774, Newport outlawed slavery, shattering the Triangular Trade. As part of the Union during the Civil War, Newport was designated the site of the U.S. Navy, which created an important naval presence that continues to this day. Newport's economy was given another boost by World War I as its shipyards built combat and cargo ships, but the city suffered heavily when the stock market crashed in 1929. The decline continued through the 1970s as the Newport Naval base was closed and the city lost 15 percent of its population. However, modern Newport is still a center of naval activities, housing the Naval War College and other training schools.
References:
Newport: Geography and Climate. (n.d.). Retrieved July 9, 2014, from http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-Northeast/Newport-Geography-and-Climate.html
Brief History of Newport. (n.d.). Retrieved July 9, 2014, from http://www.newporthistory.org/about/brief-history-of-newport/
Newport: History - Earliest Newport, Pirates, Slaves, and Civil Unrest. (n.d.). Retrieved July 9, 2014, from http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-Northeast/Newport-History.html
Newport, Rhode Island - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved July 9, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newport,_Rhode_Island